Journalistic integrity? Not in Gardner!

In today’s world you don’t know who to trust and the phrase ‘journalistic integrity’ is a thing of the past. The issue of getting the correct news without opinion is something you might think happens on a national level, but what if I were to tell you it’s happening more and more on a local level. I’m not talking about the local media as in Kansas City-based newspapers, radio and television, I’m talking about The Gardner News itself. I have called into question the journalistic integrity of the paper on a few occasions in the past and now with all the drama in City Council chambers, I’m calling out The Gardner News again for not reporting the entire story. I can name a number of occasions both in the past and the present where this paper has not reported the entire story but has chosen instead to report what they believe, or what leaders at City Hall believe should be the content the public is allowed to read. The Gardner News is the official “paper of record” for the city but on more occasions than I dare to count, they have reported one side of the story more often than not. In my own case as a Disability Advocate and while speaking before the Council, the paper ignored the content of my speech in favor of the words and rhetoric of Councilman Moore and other council members. Is this right, is this what we should expect from the paper of record for City Hall? I don’t believe it is and I know a number of people who believe the same thing I do. Journalistic integrity in Gardner doesn’t exist.